§4Ἐπὶ χλόης εὐθαλοῦς ἡ Κένταυρος αὕτη πεποίηται ὅλῃ μὲν τῇ ἵππῳ χαμαὶ κειμένη, καὶ ἀποτέτανται εἰς τοὐπίσω οἱ πόδες·
On the lush green grass, this female Centaur is painted lying on the ground with her entire horse part, and her hind legs are stretched backward; the female part of her is slightly raised and rests upon her elbow.
τὸ δὲ γυναικεῖον ὅσον αὐτῆς ἠρέμα ἐπεγήγερται καὶ ἐπ' ἀγκῶνός ἐστιν, οἱ δὲ πόδες οἱ ἔμπροσθεν οὐκέτι καὶ οὗτοι ἀποτάδην, οἷον ἐπὶ πλευρὰν κειμένης, ἀλλ’ ὁ μὲν ὀκλάζοντι ἔοικεν ὢν καμπύλος ὑπεσταλμένῃ τῇ ὁπλῇ, ὁ δὲ ἔμπαλιν ἐπανίσταται καὶ τοῦ ἐδάφους ἀντιλαμβάνεται, οἷοί εἰσιν ἵπποι πειρώμενοι ἀναπηδᾶν.
Her front legs are no longer stretched out like the hind ones, as would be the case if she were lying on her side, but one looks like it is bending, with the hoof tucked under, as if in a kneeling position, while the other on the contrary is rising up and grasping the ground, just as horses do when they attempt to spring up.
τοῖν νεογνοῖν δὲ τὸ μὲν ἄνω ἔχει αὐτὴ ἐν ταῖς ἀγκάλαις καὶ τρέφει ἀνθρωπικῶς ἐπέχουσα τὸν γυναικεῖον μαστόν, τὸ δ’ ἕτερον ἐκ τῆς ἵππου θηλάζει ἐς τὸν πωλικὸν τρόπον.
Of her two newborns, she holds one up in her arms and nurses it in a human fashion, offering her human breast, while the other suckles from her horse part in the manner of a foal.
ἄνω δὲ τῆς εἰκόνος οἷον ἀπό τινος σκοπῆς Ἱπποκένταυρός τις, ἀνὴρ ἐκείνης δηλαδὴ τῆς τὰ βρέφη ἀμφοτέρωθεν τιθηνουμένης, ἐπικύπτει γελῶν οὐχ ὅλος φαινόμενος, ἀλλ’ ἐς μέσον τὸν ἵππον, λέοντος σκύμνον ἀνέχων τῇ δεξιᾷ καὶ ὑπὲρ ἑαυτὸν αἰωρῶν, ὡς δεδίξαιτο σὺν παιδιᾷ τὰ βρέφη.
Above the picture, as if from a lookout post, a male Centaur—who is indeed the husband of her who nurses the babies on both sides—leans over laughing, not fully visible, but only down to the middle of his horse part, holding up a lion's cub in his right hand and dangling it above himself, as if to frighten the babies in play.
§5Τὰ μὲν οὖν ἄλλα τῆς γραφῆς, ἐφ' ὅσα τοῖς ἰδιώταις ἡμῖν οὐ πάντη ἐμφανῆ ὄντα τὴν ὅλην ἔχει ὅμως δύναμιν τῆς τέχνης—οἷον τὸ ἀποτεῖναι τὰς γραμμὰς ἐς τὸ εὐθύτατον καὶ τῶν χρωμάτων ἀκριβῆ τὴν κρᾶσιν καὶ εὔκαιρον τὴν ἐπιβολὴν ποιήσασθαι καὶ σκιάσαι ἐς δέον καὶ τοῦ μεγέθους τὸν λόγον καὶ τὴν τῶν μερῶν πρὸς τὸ ὅλον ἰσότητα καὶ ἁρμονίαν—γραφέων παῖδες ἐπαινούντων, οἷς ἔργον εἰδέναι τὰ τοιαῦτα.
Now, as for the other aspects of the painting, which, though not entirely obvious to us laymen, nevertheless possess the whole power of the art—such as drawing the lines with the greatest straightness, the precise blending of the colors, the timely application of them, the proper shading, the proportion of size, and the equality and harmony of the parts in relation to the whole—let the sons of painters praise them, whose business it is to know such things.
ἐγὼ δὲ τοῦ Ζεύξιδος ἐκεῖνο μάλιστα ἐπῄνεσα, ὅτι ἐν μιᾷ καὶ τῇ αὐτῇ ὑποθέσει ποικίλως τὸ περιττὸν ἐπεδείξατο τῆς τέχνης, τὸν μὲν ἄνδρα ποιήσας πάντη φοβερὸν καὶ κομιδῇ ἄγριον, σοβαρὸν τῇ χαίτῃ, λάσιον τὰ πολλὰ οὐ κατὰ τὸν ἵππον αὐτοῦ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ στέρνον τοῦ ἀνθρώπου καὶ ὤμους ἐπὶ πλεῖστον, τὸ βλέμμα, καίτοι γελῶντος, θηριῶδες ὅλον ὄρειόν τι καὶ ἀνήμερον. §6Τοιοῦτον μὲν ἐκεῖνον.
But I, for my part, praised this most of all in Zeuxis: that in one and the same subject-matter, he displayed the excellence of his art in diverse ways, having made the male entirely formidable and completely wild, with a proud mane, hairy for the most part, not only on his horse part, but also on his human chest and shoulders to the greatest extent, and his gaze, although he is laughing, is entirely beast-like, wild and untamed. Such is he.
τὴν θήλειαν δὲ ἵππου τε τῆς καλλίστης, οἷαι μάλιστα αἱ Θετταλαί εἰσιν, ἀδμῆτες ἔτι καὶ ἄβατοι, τὸ δὲ ἄνω ἡμίτομον γυναικὸς πάγκαλον ἔξω τῶν ὤτων· ἐκεῖνα δὲ μόνα σατυρώδη ἐστὶν αὐτῇ.
As for the female, she is of the most beautiful breed of horse, such as those of Thessaly especially are, still unbroken and unridden; and her upper half, the female torso, is exceedingly beautiful except for her ears, for these alone are satyr-like in her.
καὶ ἡ μῖξις δὲ καὶ ἡ ἁρμογὴ τῶν σωμάτων, καθ' ὃ συνάπτεται καὶ συνδεῖται τῷ γυναικείῳ τὸ ἱππικόν, ἠρέμα καὶ οὐκ ἀθρόως μεταβαίνουσα καὶ ἐκ προσαγωγῆς τρεπομένη λανθάνει τὴν ὄψιν ἐκ θατέρου εἰς τὸ ἕτερον ὑπαγομένη.
The blending and joining of the two bodies, where the equine joins and unites with the human, transitions gently and not abruptly, changing step by step so that it escapes the eye, leading it imperceptibly from one to the other.
τῶν νεογνῶν δὲ τὸ ἐν τῷ νηπίῳ ὅμως ἄγριον καὶ ἐν τῷ ἁπαλῷ ἤδη φοβερόν, καὶ τοῦτο θαυμαστὸν οἷον ἔδοξέ μοι, καὶ ὅτι παιδικῶς μάλα πρὸς τὸν σκύμνον τοῦ λέοντος ἀναβλέπουσι, μεταξὺ τῆς θηλῆς ἑκάτερος ἐπειλημμένοι ἐν χρῷ τῇ μητρὶ προσιστάμενοι. §7Ταῦτα δ’ οὖν ἐπιδειξάμενος ὁ Ζεῦξις αὐτὸς μὲν ᾤετο ἐκπλήξειν τοὺς ὁρῶντας ἐπὶ τῇ τέχνῃ, οἱ δὲ αὐτίκα μὲν ἐβόων—ἢ τί γὰρ ἂν ἐποίουν καλλίστῳ θεάματι ἐντυγχάνοντες;
Of the newborns, their wildness despite their infancy, and their already formidable nature in their tenderness, this too seemed wonderful to me; and also that they look up so childishly at the lion's cub, each having let go of the nipple and standing close against their mother's skin. Having displayed these things, Zeuxis himself expected to strike the spectators with wonder at his art; but they immediately cried out—for what else could they do upon encountering so beautiful a sight?
ἐπῄνουν δὲ μάλιστα πάντες ἅπερ κἀμὲ πρῴην ἐκεῖνοι, τῆς ἐπινοίας τὸ ξένον καὶ τὴν γνώμην τῆς γραφῆς ὡς νέαν καὶ τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν ἀγνῶτα οὖσαν.
Yet they all praised most of all the very things those people did to me the other day: the strangeness of the invention and the design of the painting, as being novel and unknown to those before.
ὥστε ὁ Ζεῦξις συνεὶς ὅτι αὐτοὺς ἀσχολεῖ ἡ ὑπόθεσις καινὴ οὖσα καὶ ἀπάγει τῆς τέχνης, ὡς ἐν παρέργῳ τίθεσθαι τὴν ἀκρίβειαν τῶν πραγμάτων, Ἄγε δή, ἔφη, ὦ Μικίων, πρὸς τὸν μαθητήν, περίβαλε ἤδη τὴν εἰκόνα καὶ ἀράμενοι ἀποκομίζετε οἴκαδε.
Consequently, Zeuxis, realizing that the novel subject-matter occupied them and led them away from the art, so that the precision of the execution was treated as a secondary matter, said to his disciple, "Come now, Micion, cover the picture now, and lift it and carry it home.
οὗτοι γὰρ ἡμῶν τὸν πηλὸν τῆς τέχνης ἐπαινοῦσι, τῶν δὲ αὖ φώτων εἰ καλῶς ἔχει καὶ κατὰ τὴν τέχνην, οὐ πολὺν ποιοῦνται λόγον, ἀλλὰ παρευδοκιμεῖ τὴν ἀκρίβειαν τῶν ἔργων ἡ τῆς ὑποθέσεως καινοτομία.
For these people praise the clay of our art, but as for the lights, whether they are well executed and according to art, they make no great account; rather, the novelty of the subject-matter outshines the precision of the work."